System and Method for Injecting a Medication

ABSTRACT

A system and method for injecting a medication, the system comprising an injection syringe comprising a sensor, an indicator light, and/or a digital meter. The sensor can be a blood vessel sensor, such as, a blood pressure sensor, a pressure sensor, and/or a RAMAN spectroscopy tool. The method can comprise, obtaining the syringe filled with a fluid, inserting the needle, checking the indicator, and based on the indicator, dispensing the fluid.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present specification relates to a syringe, more particularly a method of using a syringe with a blood vessel sensor and a visible volume gauge.

BACKGROUND

Many medical procedures are performed where the amount and location of medication received by a patient is precise. One example of this is fillers. An incorrect dosage, or incorrect location of a treatment can have negative effects. Injecting medical fillers into arteries can lead to complete arterial occlusion and necrosis at that site. This is unfortunately common as injectors do not have a way to locate arteries near the site of injection. The most fearful occlusion would be ocular which usually leads to blindness.

A system and/or method is needed to more accurately inject medication.

SUMMARY

The present invention provides among other things a syringe comprising at least one sensor, such as at least one blood vessel sensor. The at least one sensor can be at least one of a pressure sensor and a RAMAN spectroscopy laser. One or more indicators may provide information to a user during use of the syringe. The at least one indicator can be at least one of: visual, audio, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, vestibular, light, red light, green light, multi-colored light, and vibration. The indicator can be physically, electronically, or wirelessly coupled to the syringe. One or more of the indicators may be a digital meter located such that the user can view the digital meter and the injection site at substantially the same time. The at least one digital meter can be calibrated to show the amount of fluid that has been ejected from the syringe. The indicator may inform the user when the needle is placed to inject into a blood vessel. The sensor may be a pressure sensor at or near the needle tip that that senses the presence of arterial blood pressure or may be a RAMAN spectroscopy laser that senses the presence of arterial blood components (such as protein or other markers) at or near the needle tip. The indicator may inform the user that the needle is placed in an undesirable location by, for example, activating a LED light.

The fluid and/or medication can be injected by obtaining a syringe with at least the appropriate amount of fluid therein, inserting the needle into the injection site, checking the indicator, and based on the indicator, dispensing the fluid. The fluid can be dispensed by pressing the plunger physically, or mechanically. The mechanically pressed plunger can be autonomous and/or automatic. The user may continuously view the digital meter to more precisely evaluate how much medication has been ejected and when the correct amount of medication has been dispensed from the syringe, as opposed to looking at graduation or volume markings on the syringe barrel.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features, aspects, and advantages of the present specification will become better understood with regard to the following description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is an injection syringe in accordance to one, or more embodiments; and

FIG. 2 is an injection syringe inserted into a blood vessel in accordance to one, or more embodiments.

FIG. 3 is an injection syringe inserted into a blood vessel in accordance to one, or more embodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

While this specification may describe things in reference to a needle entering a blood vessel, it would be obvious to one skilled in the relevant art that it can be useful in many other areas such as liver, kidney, heart, lungs, muscles, spine and/or the like.

Referring initially to FIG. 1-2, a syringe shown generally at 10 with

servoir 11 in the syringe barrel 18 that accommodates a plunger 20 and a needle 15 with a hole 17 through which any material in the reservoir 11 is ejected when the plunger 13 is depressed and through which material is taken up into the reservoir 11 when the plunger 13 is extended. The location of the needle 15 may be monitored using at least one sensor 12. The sensor 12 can be any sensor known by those having skill in the art, for example a pressure sensor, RAMAN spectroscopy laser, strain gauge, piezoelectric, capacitive, manometer, vacuum pressure, bourdon tube, barometer, MEMS, optical sensors, microwire, and/or the like. The sensor 12 may be coupled to the needle 15, embedded in the material comprising the needle, or integral with the needle.

Referring now to FIG. 3, various body parts and/or tissues have different fluid pressures. For example, most body tissue 24 has very low to no pressure (0-8 mmHg), while the pressure in an artery 22 is typically much higher, around 80-180 mm Hg. A pressure sensor 12 at or near the hole 17 can be used to determine if the needle 15 is in a specific area, such as in a blood vessel 22.

RAMAN spectroscopy is a non-destructive chemical analysis technique which provides detailed information about a wide variety of analytes in complex mixtures. RAMAN spectroscopy has been used to identify and/or quantify analytes that can be found in blood but not in the body tissue 24 that surrounds a blood vessel 22. A common example of such an analyte is albumin. A RAMAN spectroscopy laser can be used to determine if the needle 15 is in an area containing blood, such as, in a blood vessel. Other analytes may be selected based on the type of tissue to be differentiated. The presence, absence or concentration of an analyte may be used to determine the location of the hole 17.

The syringe 10 can also comprise an indicator 14. The indicator 14 can be coupled to the syringe, and easily viewable. The indicator 14 can be any sensory indicator, such as, visual, audio, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, vestibular, and/or the like. The indicator can be at least one of: at least one light with various lumen levels, a blinking light with various frequencies, a light that can change to various colors, a light with changing colors, and various frequencies or patterns of color changing, or the like. The indicator can be multiple lights wherein each light is a different color and each color indicates a particular condition. The indicator can be at least one sound with at least one pitch, changing pitches, periodic sound (on again off again) with varying frequencies, songs, and/or the like. The indicator can be vibrations, periodic vibrations, periodic vibrations of various and/or changing frequencies, vibrations of various and/or changing intensity, and/or the like. The indicator could be a meter, graduated measure, digital meter, or the like.

In one or more embodiments the indicator 14 is a red light coupled to the syringe barrel 18 that illuminates when the needle tip is in a blood vessel 22.

In one or more embodiments the indicator 14 is two lights, one red and one green. The green light can be illuminated when the needle tip is not in a blood vessel 22, and unilluminated when the needle tip is in a blood vessel 22. The red light can be illuminated when the needle tip is in a blood vessel 22, and unilluminated when the needle tip is not in a blood vessel 22.

The syringe 10 can comprise a digital meter 16. The digital meter 16 can be comprised to display at least one of the amount of fluid that has been ejected from or taken up into the syringe, the pressure reading from the pressure sensor, an analyte concentration, and/or the like. The digital meter can display images, text, and the like in a larger format to make it easier to read quickly. In one aspect of the invention, the digital meter 16 is coupled to the barrel 18 in such a way that the digital meter 16 and the injection site can be viewed simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously. In another aspect of the invention, the digital meter 16 can be separate from the syringe body, but wirelessly coupled to the at least one sensor 12. The digital meter 16 can be placed on the patient, on the needle, or the like near the injection site to allow the digital meter and the injection site to be viewed simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously. The digital meter can be transparent, a projected image, a digital screen, a touch screen, or the like. The indicator 14 can be integral with the digital meter 16.

In one or more embodiments the plunger 20 can be a mechanical plunger that can be pressed autonomously and/or automatically.

In use, the syringe 10 can be filled with a fluid, such as a medication. The syringe can be filled on location, or it can be pre-filled. The syringe can be inserted into the tissue of a patient at a particular location, such as the dermis or any other anatomical location on the patient. The indicator is used to determine whether or when the hole 17 of the needle 15 has reached a desired anatomical location. In the case of a RAMAN spectrometer, for example, the needle 15 may be inserted until a particular analyte or a particular concentration of a particular analyte is detected.

As another example, the needle 15 may have a pressure sensor 12 near the hole 17 of the needle 15. The pressure sensor may experience pressure during needle insertion. The location of the hole 17 of the needle 15 may be determined when the pressure changes, or the user may pause after needle insertion and before deploying the medication from the syringe 10. The user evaluates the pressure measurement at the stationary needle location to determine whether the hole 17 of the needle 15 is in the correct position. For example, once inserted, the indicator can be checked. The indicator can inform the user whether the needle tip is in a blood vessel. If the indicator shows the needle is in a blood vessel, then the syringe can be backed out, inserted further, or removed preventing the fluid from being injected into a blood vessel and avoiding any negative effects of injecting into a blood vessel, such as, facial paralysis. If the indicator shows that the needle is not in a blood vessel, then the fluid can be ejected from the syringe. In one or more embodiments the fluid can be ejected by mechanical means which can be automated, autonomous, and/or the like.

In some situations, it is important to view the injection site while ejecting the fluid from the syringe, for example, watching for reactions to the fluid, physical indications the injection is in the wrong place (such as bulging), or the like. While ejecting the fluid the at least one digital meter 16 can be viewed simultaneously, or nearly simultaneously to ensure the correct amount is ejected with no reactions, or physical indicator. This can be especially helpful if the material in the syringe is meant to be partially injected into multiple locations. The digital meter can assist in making these partial injections of equal amounts.

In closing, it is to be understood that although aspects of the present specification are highlighted by referring to specific embodiments, one skilled in the art will readily appreciate that these disclosed embodiments are only illustrative of the principles of the subject matter disclosed herein. Therefore, it should be understood that the disclosed subject matter is in no way limited to a particular methodology, protocol, and/or reagent, etc., described herein. As such, various modifications or changes to or alternative configurations of the disclosed subject matter can be made in accordance with the teachings herein without departing from the spirit of the present specification. Lastly, the terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to limit the scope of the present disclosure, which is defined solely by the claims. Accordingly, embodiments of the present disclosure are not limited to those precisely as shown and described.

Certain embodiments are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors for carrying out the methods and devices described herein. Of course, variations on these described embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Accordingly, this disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described embodiments in all possible variations thereof is encompassed by the disclosure unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. 

What is claimed:
 1. A syringe comprising at least one sensor.
 2. The syringe of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is a blood vessel sensor.
 3. The syringe of claim 1, wherein the at least one sensor is at least one of: at least one pressure sensor and at least one RAMAN spectroscopy laser.
 4. The syringe of claim 3, wherein the at least one pressure sensor is piezo electric.
 5. The syringe of claim 3, wherein the at least one RAMAN spectroscopy laser is detecting albumin.
 6. The syringe of claim 1 further comprising at least one indicator.
 7. The syringe of claim 3, wherein the at least one indicator is at least one of: visual, audio, olfactory, gustatory, tactile, vestibular, at least one light, red light, green light, multi-colored light, at least one sound, and at least one vibration.
 8. The syringe of claim 3, wherein the at least one indicator is coupled to the syringe through at least one of physically, electronically, and wirelessly.
 9. The syringe of claim 1 further comprising at least one digital meter.
 10. The syringe of claim 6, wherein the at least one digital meter displays at least one of an amount of fluid that has been ejected, at least one measure of pressure, and temperature.
 11. The syringe of claim 6, wherein the at least one digital meter is coupled to the syringe through at least one of physically, electronically, and wirelessly.
 12. A method of injecting a medication, the steps comprising: obtaining a syringe with the appropriate amount of fluid therein; inserting the needle; checking the indicator; based on the indicator, dispensing the fluid.
 13. The method of claim 12 further comprising reading a digital meter to more accurately dispense the appropriate amount of fluid.
 14. The method of claim 24, wherein the plunger is pressed in at least one of the following methods: mechanically, autonomously, and automatically. 